I did hear that I needed to be aware of scams were people come to your door and say that they are from some sort of company (mostly gas, electricity or water) and then try to get into your home. One will keep you busy talking while the other will go through your valuables.
Well, I think this will happen mostly with old people, as a sensible human being will not let these type of people inside without proper ID and reason.

Anyways I want to share some of the sales trials I have had at my door, mind you on average I get them every other day.

The most common are the telecommunication operators. There are two or three main companies here that compete for the business and they bother people on a regular basis. Last week I had a lady from Telefonica at my door and just now two other ladies of the same company where begging for business.

Now the strange thing is that they don’t really push for a sale! They just ask very friendly whether you’re interested in a new telephone operator. I’m with Ono and we’ve just signed a contract with them, so even if I would not be happy (which is not the case) I would not be able to change.

So I asked these 2 ladies why they would come to my door as last week I told their colleague that I was not going to change. I said that in my opinion this was not really an efficient way of doing business; I don’t know yet how to say in Spanish that it’s a waste of time. Their answer in broken English: Spain is different…

Yesterday my neighbor was here and the doorbell rang. He opened and there was an old guy selling…
towels! Now come on, what would be the success rate of selling towels door to door?!

When the guy left, my neighbor told me a story of a guy he had at his door selling a picture of a dog. He asked the sales guy why he would want a picture of a dog for to which the guy replied that he needed the money. OK fair enough, nice pitch, but I think picking up an instrument and playing it on a busy street corner would generate more revenue!

Then there are the people who sell all kinds of insurances, air conditioning systems, heating systems, etc.

I really do not understand how these people can make a living. Maybe I should import some cheap stuff from China, like plastic flowers or something, and go door to door in my area to see whether I can make an additional income?

If there are so many people doing it, perhaps it does work over here?

Discovered that bloody Movistar (from Telefonica), where I bought my prepaid phone card from yesterday, doesn’t have an agreement with China Mobile and therefore sms is not possible between Spain and China on their network. Luckily Skype works well to contact Mia and there is always email and phone…

Did some work and more walking around through this beautiful city and tried my luck at some real estate agents. Unfortunately hardly anyone speaks English (where did I experience that too?) and if you cannot speak Spanish many of them are not even interested to assist…

Back online I had more luck. Rod, an Italian guy who has been here for four months called me back immediately. I had already had contact with him in China, so it was nice to finally meet him. He showed me a home which was not that good, but promised me to keep looking.

One thing I noted today is that elevators here (probably like everywhere else in the world, but China) have the actual 0 or B for the ground floor. Many times I have made the mistake already to press 1 when going down, which means that I arrive on the first floor and not the ground floor. Strange how after 10 years these – seemingly normal – things actually change in your mind…